Daimler has found a buyer for the Smart plant in Hambach, France. The negotiations with the chemical company Ineos are apparently nearing completion. The British are planning to produce an off-road vehicle in the style of the Land Rover classic Defender.
The sale of the Smart factory in Hambach, France is about to be completed. The talks with the British petrochemical company Ineos were positive and advanced, said Daimler. Ineos Automotive submitted a binding purchase offer for smart France.
According to the industry magazine "Automobilwoche", Ineos also sees the buying process on the home straight. The British had not given any information about the amount of the purchase offer. Daimler stated that a decision could only be made once the talks with the employees had been concluded. The investments of 500 million euros announced in 2018 to modernize and expand the plant have largely been made. The construction work included the construction of a new body shop, a paint shop as well as modernization and modifications in the assembly area.
Ineos, who wants to build his own off-road vehicle in the tradition of the "Land Rover Defender", confirmed his interest in taking over the factory in Lorraine, near the Saarland border, a few weeks ago. Originally, the company, led by billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, wanted to build the off-road vehicle in Wales. Ratcliffe is known as a big Brexit supporter.
At the beginning of July, Daimler announced that it would sell the one-time prestige project in Hambach as part of an "optimization" of the global production network, thereby responding to the reduced demand for cars. Originally, the factory was supposed to produce models of the new Mercedes electric car series EQ instead of the Smart. But global car sales collapse as a result of the pandemic. The plant with 1,600 employees is also in danger of running out of work because the city runabout Smart will soon be built as a purely electric car in China.
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